Reflections

Farm World - Lardner Park, Warragul

Yesterday, James, Stuart, my Dad and I went to Farm World at Lardner Park in Warragul. Adam decided that he would stay at Nana & Grand-dad's to keep Nana company for the day, which ended up being a good thing considering it ended up being a little on the warm side AND Lardner Park itself is rather large in size to walk around!

Our main aim for going to Farm World was to look at the 'show specials' that were available on the range of 15,000 - 20,000 gallon steel water tanks AS WELL AS getting some quotes on a new shed too! Whilst we have to wait on the shed quotes arriving in the mail this week, we have decided to go ahead with the water tank purchase and Stuart will be organising that today. Never again should we run out of water once that tank is installed and collecting rainwater too!

Here's a couple of photos of James investigating one of the many tractors that were on show too - not that we need a tractor at all - but James just enjoyed climbing up into them and taking a look at everything in the cab! *grin*

He looks so little doesn't he? He told me it doesn't really compare to Go Kart racing though! *grin*

In other news, today I was involved in a catering event for our School Parents' Club which ended up being an absolutely huge day. I dropped the boys at school just before 9am and then headed straight out to the farm property where we were providing the catering. There were 5 of us there, and whilst early on things were a little slow, they certainly got busy and kept us on our toes. At 3.15pm, I drove back to the school to pick the boys up and then we returned again to the property to finish cleaning everything up, before dropping all our supplies back off to the school. It was just after 5.30pm when we finally got home - phew! What a day! Let's hope we made a decent profit for all our efforts!

Until next time,

 

Go Karting - 1st Place Midget!

As a result of the Melbourne Grand Prix being held tomorrow, James had Go Kart Racing today and like last month, he had an absolutely fantastic day!

He not only managed a personal best time early in the day, BUT took out some more race wins too!

• Heat 1 - 1st
• Heat 2 - 1st
• Heat 3 - 1st
• Final Race - 2nd

Despite doing so very well, it would seem that James also did this with a bit of a 24 hour 'bug' too - no vomiting but some tummy aches and he seemed quite lethargic and not so enthusiastic for most of the day too! As you can imagine though, he definately wanted to race! "Nah - I'm alright" he kept saying!

He was hoping for a 'clean sweep' BUT with 3 spins in the final race, it just wasn't meant to be. None-the-less, he is absolutely thrilled with his result today and can't wait to share the news at school on Monday!

In other Go Karting news, I wore an official AKA (Australian Karting Association) jacket today and went out onto the track to get photos for the Newsletter and Website Gallery. It's amazing how VERY fast those Go Karts are (particularly the senior ones) when you are only a few metres away from them and are just protected by a bundle of tyres!

I'm in the process of sorting through them all uploading them into the BKC Gallery - it's a little time consuming - but you're more than welcome to check them out if you are interested! Here's a couple I took of James today!

The last one shows James being shown the checkered flag when he took out the race win in the first race of the day!

CONGRATULATIONS James! We're so very proud of you!

Until next time,

'Jo Sonjas' Mixed Media - Crackled Paint

Yesterday my friend Jan came around and we spent a few hours playing around with the surplus 'Mixed Media' supplies that one of the scrapping magazines had sent me to work with for an upcoming advertorial. What fun we had, but it was such a shame the time passed all too quickly! I can see another day of experiementing coming up again in the near future too!

These are the supplies we used:

Here's how to create a very simple but effective crackled background!

1. Select a heavy weight cardstock for this technique as you will be applying several generous layers of paint and medium and you don't want to end up with too much buckling of your background.

2. Using a brush, apply a generous coat of Jo Sonja's Background Colour to your cardstock and allow to dry.  I chose 'Galaxy Blue' and this became the colour that you will see through the 'cracks' once the technique is complete!

3. Using a clean brush, apply a generous and even coating of Jo Sonja's Decor Crackle and allow this to thoroughly dry.  NOTE: For best results, it's important to allow the paint and mediums to dry naturally - don't use a heat tool.

4. Using a sponge, apply your chosen Jo Sonja's Artist Colour - I chose 'Titanium White' in a quick dabbing motion across the surface.  Be careful to not overwork the paint too much as the crackling finish will be minimized.

5. Sit your masterpiece aside to allow the cracks to develop and the whole piece to thoroughly dry, then use however you would like!

Here's my resulting crackled background

I'm not sure how I'll use this piece yet BUT I do love the result! I can see that I'll definitely be playing around with this technique some more!

Until next time,

New 'Electrolux' Washer & Dryer!

After a little shopping around, comparing prices and then 'wheeling and dealing' yesterday, guess what arrived at our place today and got installed?  Yep - my new 'Electrolux' Combo Washer and Dryer!

Last night we removed the old top loader washer, took the dryer down from the wall and I have to say our small laundry seems so much bigger now! I've gained back some floor space and now, sometime in the near future, we can look at 'making over' our laundry and adding a full length length bench now with cupboards above and below. Yippee!

Anyway - here's the model I ended up getting - I've already done two loads of washing and I can't believe how quiet it is - not to mention how crease free all the clothes seem to be when I take them out to hang them on the line - just fantatic!

Oh - the other 'Good News' thing about my laundry too is that I have NO IRONING sitting around to do - can you believe it? Anyone who knows me, knows that I just detest ironing - BUT - I caught up on all I had sitting there to do over the weekend. What a boring job that was! *grin* Now, today I've done two loads, hung it out, got it dried, folded it, put it away AND only had to iron two work shirts! Everything else dried crease free and didn't need ANY ironing at all! How simply fantastic! *grin*

Until next time,

Design Team Challenge - 'We Dare You'

This week's 'We Dare You' Scrappit Design Team Challenge was to scrap 'Regrets' - something we regret, something we would like to take back or an unfinished chapter.

After thinking about this one for quite some time, I decided that whilst there are times where I wish I hadn't done what I did, or said what I did say, or things like that - I don't really regret anything I've done - I love the life I have and everything that has happened in the past has made me the person I am today. I don't see that there is any point in living in the past like that.

So - here's what I came up with!

The journaling (which talks about me living with 'No Regrets') tucks behind the photo on a pull out tag!

As you can see, I've even managed to sneak in a little hand stitching on this one too! I actually used a Scrappitpack that I've had sitting on my desk for a little while - I just loved this pattern paper BUT never seemed to have just the right project for it, well that was until now!

Until next time,

 

Ebay Listings

Just a quick post today after listing a heap of items on Ebay! It's been something I've had on my 'To Do List' for quite some time, so it's nice to be able to finally cross it off!

You can check them all out here!

Until next time,

Guest Blogger - NZ Dares

The very lovely Trina asked me to be her 'Guest Designer' over on the NZ Dares Blog this week! Thanks so much for asking me to be involved Trina - as you know I do love combining both Colour and Black & White images on the one page, so this challenge was just perfect for me!

Here's what I came up with!

It's quite a simple page really because the black and white pattern paper already came pre-cut and punched and I just attached it to a red sheet of Bazzill Cardstock!

As you can see, I've had lots of fun with various Prima Blossoms on the is one too - although I must admit I decided to remove the stamens from the flower centres and added KaiserCraft Pearls instead!

On the homefront, I've been doing a little investigating into Washing Machines - our Top Loader is around 15 years old and for the past couple of months it's been making lots of 'noises' that it hasn't done in the past. This week we ended up having to replace the belt in it and because Top Loaders use so much more water than Front Loaders (remember we're on Tank Water here) we've been thinking about investing in something that is a little more economicaly - both in terms of energy use and water consumption. Our thinking at the moment is to get rid of both the dryer and the washer and buy a combination unit - I hardly use my dryer (I prefer line drying) but I do like to have one there just incase! By doing this, we'd also gain some 'space' in our small laundry which we could definitely better utilise.

Until next time,

Clearly *Sneak Peaks*

I promised the other day that I would share some *Sneak Peaks* of a project I have been working on - well here they are!

Our local Spotlight store had some 'new' American Crafts Foam Thickers in stock and they ended up being the perfect match for this project - I just love their size and the actual font too!

As you can see, I've been busy hand sewing again on all the large flowers - oh and that little baby in the photo is none other than - yep - yours truly! That might give you a little hint - yes, it's a 'Me' project that I've been working on!

I'm afraid that's all I can share with you at the moment BUT I can't wait to share the whole project with you soon!

Well - it's Longford Scrappers today, so I had better finish getting myself organised!

Until next time,

 

Craftmakers Magazine

The *new* issue of 'Craftmakers' (formally 'Creative Aussie Crafters') Magazine is out and inside you will find featured my 'Beaded Book Mark!

Once inserted into your book, the little cluster of strung beads hangs on the outside, thus clearly marking the page you are up to!

Don't forget that I also have instructions here on my blog too, on how to make a similar Book Mark!  Just click here!

In other creative news I've been finishing off a much over-due project and I have to say that I am really thrilled with the results - I can't wait to share it with you - I'll take some *sneak peak* photos soon!

I'm also really looking forward to my Longford Scrappers day tomorrow - we're scrapping a baby photo of ourselves, so it will be really nice to sit back, have a chat and get another 'Me' page created - well - that's the plan anyway!

On the homefront, well - that paper pile is rapidly deminishing and I've been able to get a number of items crossed off my 'To Do' list as well, including a hand written letter that I'm been meaning to do for quite some time! It always feel great to achieve a number of things in one day doesn't it? Have a fantastic day!

Until next time,

 

Hematite & Magnetic Hematite 'Boy' Necklace

James had hinted that he'd maybe like to get some type of necklace but he wasn't really sure what kind.  We took a good look around when we went to the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne when we went to the Hot Rod Show but nothing really appealed to him.

So instead, he has now designed his own using some Hematite and Magnetic Hematitie pieces that I still had leftover in my stash from the Semi Precious Stone Necklace & Bracelet I had made last year!

It's got a silver magnetic clasp and features large square Hematite beads and chips as well as smaller Magnetic Hematite square beads as well.

He loves it and the best thing of all is that this necklace is totally unique! No one else will have one exactly like it!

So - what else have I been up to? Well - I drastically need to sort out some paperwork in the study - it's amazing how quickly papers build up and before you look around you have a pile of filing to do instead of just one or two items. I worked on it a little yesterday and since I've done our school Parents' Club Minutes and Book Club this morning, I'll tackle a little more it this afternoon. It would be nice to actually see some of the desk I think - *grin*

Creatively, I'm also working on finishing a special little project that I'd sat aside awaiting some scanned photos and now that I have them, I need to apply some digital editing, so that I can get them printed and get this project finished.  I promise I haven't forgotten you Kylie!

Oh - and before I sign off . . . I noticed on my blog stats today that I'm approaching 500 blog posts . . . oh my goodness!  Stay tuned for a little 'Random Act of Kindness' - RAK - to celebrate that occasion I think!

Here's hoping you are having a wonderful day wherever in the world you may be!

Until next time,